What is a Documentary Photograph – Knowing What to See

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ui5P78HJWmc

The Way We Are, The Way We Were

This project strives to 'Show America to Americans', and that's an important goal if we are not aware of who we are, and have misconceptions about each other.  We are documenting The Way We Are. There's a Reddit group called The Way We Were and there's an interesting look to a time gone by.  In...

Deadlines Make Things Happen – Weekly Theme: Transgender

A few years ago, my town in Colorado got hit hard by a flood, and the whole town was asked to move out of town until they could get the infrastructure repaired (water, sewer, electricity, gas). While folks were out of town, myself included, I came back every two days and photographed what was going...

Meet Jeff Botts, Lexington KY

I live in Lexington, KY and shoot mainly older/iconic businesses as well as just 'scenes' from some smaller towns in the area. Examples: Oldest theater in Lexington, Main Streets from some smaller towns, a few Drive-Ins, etc. Maybe one day my images will fill in the gaps of some history of the area.  I have...

Types of Documentary Photographs

It's a good idea to have a sense of what I'm looking for to comprise this collection. I am looking for photographs from every U.S. state. I am looking for documentary photographs--events, happenings, people and places. And every kind of person.  Young and old.  Straight and gay.  Thin and fat.  Anyone at all--everyone qualifies if...

Adding to The Collection

The photographs that are part of this collection are documentary photographs of normal life, shot on film.  Black and white is not required, but it's what I have added so far. There is a gallery of photographs with captions--The Collection--to show how the photos will be added to the site and what the caption information...

Tumultuous Times – Battling a New Depression Today

In the present day, though we aren't dealing with Depression-era dust storms or bread lines anymore, there is still quite a bit of strife and struggle that is happening in the U.S., hardship that if you don't know where to look, you'd never see it. If you drive down any Main Street in any town...

Why ‘Roy Stryker’?

Who is Roy Stryker and why is this photo project named for him? I named this photography project in tribute to Roy Stryker, the FSA administrator who had the vision to create photographs of America during the Depression-era to 'Show America to Americans'. Stryker's greatest contribution to the FSA's photographic project was as a manager....

FSA Photographs Gallery at NYTimes

There is a wonderful story featuring the FSA photographers work on the NY TIMES Lens Blog.  This blog is a must-read for all photographers, as it's always inspiring and features work from the best photojournalists working around the world. The photographs from the FSA photography collection in the Library of Congress are valuable because they...